Rockford School District wants RESA to return to science focus

Tuesday

ROCKFORD — Rockford School District leaders are considering plans to put the “science” back in Rockford Environmental Science Academy.

ROCKFORD — Rockford School District leaders are considering plans to put the “science” back in Rockford Environmental Science Academy.

The $20 million middle school opened in 1999 as a science magnet school at 1800 Ogilby Road on the city’s southwest side. RESA was the last of three schools that the district built under federal court orders after a divisive desegregation lawsuit.

The magnet schools were created to help lure students to the city’s west side and desegregate the schools. At RESA, the plan was to attract students interested in a core science curriculum. But three years after RESA opened, court oversight was lifted and the district regained local control of its schools. Support for RESA’s magnet theme diminished along with federal funding to support the specialized curriculum.

“It just wasn’t as important anymore to support those themes,” former School Board member Mike Williams said. “We didn’t have to desegregate anymore.”

Though RESA’s name suggests otherwise, science instruction at the school today is little different from at any other district middle school. The school offers students a single elective environmental science class. Superintendent LaVonne Sheffield and her administration want to offer more.

Re-establishing RESA as a comprehensive environmental science academy is a goal within the district’s five-year strategic plan approved by the School Board in June.

“The overarching goal is to make it a true environmental school for kids, six through eight,” said Tracy Stevenson-Olson, executive director of curriculum and instruction.

It won’t be a fast turnaround, but the district has five years to accomplish that goal.

‘Never had’ strong support
Without federal magnet school funding, used for specialized curriculum, teachers and parents fought to keep some of the district’s themes, like Barbour Language Academy and the Creative and Performing Arts program at Ellis Arts Academy, which still exist today. But parents and teachers at RESA didn’t put up that same fight, Williams said.

To be successful, magnet schools need strong building leaders and support from the community and parents, said former School Board member Nancy Kalchbrenner.

“You need strong leadership that is completely committed to that school. RESA never had that,” she said. “Maybe RESA would have ended up more an environmental science academy if that had happened there, but they didn’t have that advantage.”

RESA parent Rick LaMay said it’s not a bad idea to reconsider the school’s original goals.

He and his wife, Cristi, have had kids at the school for three years and don’t consider it a specialized science academy.

“We have nothing to compare it to,” Rick LaMay said. “We’ve never seen it as a science academy.”

Harlem High School Principal Joe Hazen was an assistant principal at RESA for the school’s first three years, and despite the goals, the core science curriculum never grew as much as planned, he said.

“Things change, districts are faced with financial difficulties,” he said.

Link to arboretum
Under the original plan, sixth-graders were to focus on environmental conservation, seventh-graders on environmental quality, and eighth-graders on science, technology and society connections. There were also plans for students to study botany year-round and explore hydroponics, plus plant butterfly gardens and other gardens.

A paved walkway links RESA to Klehm Arboretum, and students were invited to attend the arboretum as part of their class time.

That offer still stands, but the number of trips has decreased over the years, said Jane Snively, executive director of Klehm Arboretum & Botanic Garden. One of the purposes of the arboretum is to provide public education.

“It’s an obvious fit,” Snively said. “I would love to see the kids make good use of it.”

Limited capacity
Middle and high school students attend a school based on where they live, although exceptions to those designated zones are made for academic offerings such as the gifted program at Washington Gifted Academy and Auburn High School and the Creative and Performing Arts Program at Ellis and Auburn.

Establishing RESA as yet another specialty school would force the district to rework its student assignment plan, said board member Lisa Jackson.

“We only have a certain amount of seats for kids who can transfer into special programs,” she said.

RESA sits in Jackson’s subdistrict, and her children attended RESA. She’d like to see other students benefit from the science-based programming, too, she said.

“They learned a lot about science and the environment, and it’s something that’s stuck with them,” she said.

Reach staff writer Cathy Bayer at cbayer@rrstar.com or 815-987-1395.

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